


be alive

by titaniumsansa



Series: A Softer World [10]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: A softer world - Freeform, Anger, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Canonical Character Death, Dark, Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Five Stages of Grief, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Oneshot, Possibly Out of Character, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Sad, almost attempted murder, sorry about the feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 08:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14351445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa
Summary: Artemis dies and Zatanna tries to track down and capture the Light. Based off a Softer World prompt. Snaibsel. All oneshots in the series are unrelated, can be read without reading others.





	be alive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunkelles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/gifts).



> AN: First of all, ow, this hurt me to write, but I couldn't resist the prompt. I don't own anything here.  
> the prompt for this one is: All I want for Christmas is you to still be alive. (sometimes, dead ISN'T better)

Artemis died on a beach. She died on a beach, covered in blood, under Dick’s hands and Kaldur and Dick’s faces were probably the last things she ever saw. Maybe she saw the stars. Maybe all she saw was Dick’s panicked face-Zatanna watched the recording of everything happening from Dick’s suit so many times Bruce had to put a firm hand on her shoulder and tell her to stop. 

She never told Artemis that she loved her, that she loved her laugh and her smile and her face, and her heart. That secret stayed with her and she was too nervous, too scared to tell Artemis she was in love with her. She was with Wally and Zatanna missed her chance.

It’s only been a few months but she can’t think of Artemis without tears leaving her eyes, she feels like she’s aged a few years. Her best friend is gone. Dead. Buried, she went to the funeral, she held Raquel’s hand so tightly she was worried she was going to break something. She can’t look at Wally, can barely stand to see Dick-and she hates Kaldur. She didn’t hate him when he left to join his father-she understood that somehow. Being evil and with the Light was more forgivable because at least he was with his father, she could justify that a little.

Killing Artemis and running-she never thought she’d hate someone more than Nabu-but at least her dad is alive. Kaldur is a murderer and a thief and a double crosser. Part of her still can’t quite comprehend that Artemis is just gone, dead, never coming back, never going to team up with her, and never going to smile at her again. It was her choice to come back, but Zatanna can’t help but hate Wally a little, he and Artemis should have left and stayed gone. Instead, he’s debating coming back and Artemis is dead. Another hologram in the Cave that makes her cry so hard she can’t breathe.

Tracking down Kaldur and the Light-making sure they get what they deserve is the only thing that really gets her excited for a while, grief threatens to drown her and drag her to the bottom of her emotions. She’ll never come out unless she keeps treading water, and she almost lives in the Watchtower.

“There’s nothing in our database about the girl with Kaldur. All we know is that she’s called Tigress,” Zatanna says and Dick nods. If they can get Tigress, they can get Kaldur and the Light, she’s sure of it. There’s something about her that makes Zatanna sure she has answers.

* * *

 

It’s a few months before M’gann and Zatanna manage to find her, with Deathstroke getting something out of Gotham. It’s December, and all she wants for Christmas is for Artemis to not be dead and for her father to come back, but she can’t have anything. Of course she can’t, she’s probably destined to lose anyone that gets too close. She’s kind of surprised Bruce didn’t beat them there but she tells M’gann that if they can just get Tigress, they can get out. There’s no way they can go alone against Deathstroke-he’s going to call in reinforcements and they don’t need civilians getting hurt. M’gann levitates Tigress up into the sky, shouting and angry, and they escape. There’s no point in trying to take Deathstroke down when she’s seen him take down more skilled fighters in footage from other people’s suits.

“What are you doing?” Tigress demands to know, and Zatanna thinks to M’gann, that they should take her to the Hall. Maybe an interrogation is in order. The night sky is dark and beautiful, and she’s almost sure she can see the Batmobile close to where they last saw Deathstroke. Maybe they’ll get a two for one deal on assholes working for the Light, Zatanna thinks.

* * *

 

Tigress seems uncomfortable as possible without weapons, covered in restraints and almost refuses to look Zatanna in the eye. She bites back her comment-she almost tells Tigress that M’gann’s the mind reader, but part of her wants to see her squirm. She works with Kaldur, she’s probably killed people, and ruined lives. M’gann’s waiting until Zatanna gives the word to report that they’ve captured Tigress-if she let Bruce or Dick get her-she wouldn’t get information first hand.

“Are you two playing good cop, bad cop or something?” Tigress finally asks, sounding more annoyed than afraid. Zatanna knows she can fix that, but she just watches Tigress for a moment.

“You work with Manta’s son. Tell me about him,” Zatanna demands. 

“Why don’t you tell me about him? You were in the Junior Justice League together in that cave that we blew up,” Tigress replies.

“I’m going to get the truth out of you one way or another. No one else knows you’re here. Your boss killed the woman I was in love with-so I don’t have the same morals I used to. How do you feel about broken necks?” Zatanna asks, hand hovering over Tigress’s throat-thumb slipping under the choker there. She can feel Tigress swallow at her words, and she hears a door slam shut not too far away- and her thumb jerks out, with enough force to break the chain at the back of the choker- Artemis blinks and sees blonde hair. She blinks again, because maybe she’s finally cracked. Artemis stares back at her with glossy eyes and Zatanna shakes her head.

“It’s me, Zee. It’s me,” Tigress says and Zatanna shakes her head again. Maybe she’s hallucinating, maybe Tigress slipped her something.

“Tell me something only we know. Tell me the name of the villain we took down that first Halloween,” Zatanna murmurs.

“Harm. He killed his sister Greta and we caught him and gave her a proper burial a few blocks away that November,” Artemis says and Zatanna fights angry tears.

“Merry Christmas,” Artemis offers, quietly. She knows she can’t fix this, and she wishes she had fought harder against Dick-she wanted to tell Zatanna.

“All I wanted for Christmas was for you to be alive,” Zatanna confesses and closes her eyes for a moment. She’ll call for M’gann to double check that it’s really Artemis across from her, that she’s alive and that they can talk again. This is so messy, and she’s sharply aware of what she became after she thought Artemis was dead. Grief turned her into a monster-but then she wonders if maybe there was a monster in her all along, waiting to come out.

_ Merry Christmas, _ Zatanna thinks to herself, and looks back at Artemis.


End file.
